Coalescent
by Stephen Baxter

Now, joined by his boyhood friend Peter McLachlan, who arrives in Rome with a dark secret of his own, George uncovers evidence suggesting that the women of the Order have embarked on a divergent evolutionary path. But they are not just a new kind of human. They are a better kind, genetically superior, equipped with all the tools necessary to render homo sapiens as extinct as the Neanderthals. And, chillingly, George and Peter soon have reason to fear that this colony is preparing to leave its overcrowded underground nest. . . . Stephen Baxter possesses one of the most brilliant minds in modern science fiction. His vivid storytelling skills have earned him comparison to the giants of the past: Clarke, Asimov, Stapledon. Like his great predecessors, Baxter thinks on a cosmic scale, spinning cutting-edge scientific speculation into pure, page-turning gold. Now Baxter is back with a breathtaking adventure that begins during the catastrophic collapse of Roman Britain and stretches forward into an unimaginably distant, war-torn future, where the fate of humanity lies waiting at the center of the galaxy. . . . Destiny's Children COALESCENT George Poole isn't sure whether his life has reached a turning point or a dead end. At forty-five, he is divorced and childless, with a career that is going nowhere fast. Then, when his father dies suddenly, George stumbles onto a family secret: a sister he never knew existed. A twin named Rosa, raised in Rome by an enigmatic cult. Hoping to find the answers to the missing pieces of his life, George sets out for the ancient city. Once in Rome, he learns from Rosa the enthralling story of their distant ancestor, Regina, an iron-willed genius determined to preserve her family as the empire disintegrates around her. It was Regina who founded the cult, which has mysteriously survived and prospered below the streets of Rome for almost two millennia. The Order, says Rosa, is her real family-- and, even if he doesn't realize it yet, it is George's family, too. When she takes him into the vast underground city that is the Order's secret home, he feels a strong sense of belonging, yet there is something oddly disturbing about the women he meets. They are all so young and so very much alike. Stephen Baxter possesses one of the most brilliant minds in modern science fiction. His vivid storytelling skills have earned him comparison to the giants of the past: Clarke, Asimov, Stapledon. Like his great predecessors, Baxter thinks on a cosmic scale, spinning cutting-edge scientific speculation into pure, page-turning gold. Now Baxter is back with a breathtaking adventure that begins during the catastrophic collapse of Roman Britain and stretches forward into an unimaginably distant, war-torn future, where the fate of humanity lies waiting at the center of the galaxy. . . .

Other Books by Stephen Baxter

Proxima

Transcendent

Gulliverzone

Sunstorm

Exultant

Evolution

Icebones

Manifold:origin

Stephen Baxter's Bio

I was born in Liverpool, England, in 1957. I now live in Northumberland. Since 1987 I have published somewhere over forty books, mostly science fiction novels, and over a hundred short stories.

I have degrees in mathematics, from Cambridge University, engineering, from Southampton University, and in business administration, from Henley Management College. I worked as a teacher of maths and physics, and for several years in information technology. I am a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society.

I applied to become a cosmonaut in 1991 - aiming for the guest slot on Mir eventually taken by Helen Sharman — but fell at an early hurdle.

My first professionally published short story appeared in 1987, and my first novel in 1991. I have been a full-time author since 1995. I am President of the British Science Fiction Association, and a Vice-President of the HG Wells Society.

My science fiction novels have been published in the UK, the US, and in many other countries including Germany, Japan, France. My books have won several awards including the Philip K Dick Award, the John W Campbell Memorial Award, the British Science Fiction Association Award, the Kurd Lasswitz Award (Germany) and the Seiun Award (Japan) and have been nominated for several others, including the Arthur C Clarke Award, the Hugo Award and Locus awards. I have published over 100 sf short stories, several of which have won prizes.

My novel Voyage was dramatised by Audio Movies for BBC Radio and broadcast in 1999.

My TV and movie work includes development work on the BBC’s Invasion: Earth, broadcast in April-May 1998, and the script for Episode 3 of Space Island One, broadcast on Sky One on 21 January 1998.

My non-fiction includes the books Deep Future and Omegatropic.